Medical practice involving the diagnosis of various diseases normally requires the testing of various bodily fluids. These fluids are aspirated from a patient by use of a syringe with an attached hypodermic needle. After withdrawing the fluid, the needle is then inserted through a rubber stopper into a test tube. The fluid is then transferred from the syringe through the needle and into the test tube.
A real and constant safety problem is exposure of the health care professional to being inadvertently pierced or stuck by the needle when transferring the fluid from the patient to the test tube. This is especially critical for those transfers which occur outside the controlled conditions of a laboratory, such as during patient rounds by a phlebotomist or nurse. An accidental needle stick of the health care worker during the process of transferring fluids from the patient to the test tube exposes the worker to the same infection as that of the patient, requiring appropriate testing and treatment of the worker.
Needle stick incidents are possible when the needle of the syringe is exposed by the health care worker in order to collect the body fluid sample. Various devices have been developed to help a professional avoid needle sticks. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,404 discloses a hand held phlebotomy protection device that holds at least three test tubes. This device is held in the hand of a phlebotomist as the professional makes his or her patient rounds collecting body fluids. The device teaches a shield disk supported by a resilient handle that holds the test tubes within the handle. Both the handle and the shield disk are designed to protect the hand holding the device from needle sticks.
Other devices have been invented for use in the transfer of body fluids to test tubes which are not hand held. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,694 illustrates another device for holding test tubes which allows a plurality of test tubes of varied sizes to be automatically fed to an insertion point where the health care worker can insert and remove a hypodermic needle tipped syringe without holding the test tube or the holder by hand. This holder has a flap at the front top end of the device with a series of holes across it for inserting and removing a needle through to a test tube beneath. This device automatically advances test tubes from the back to the front of the device where the needle is inserted into the tube.
Still, there remains a need to provide a device that is lightweight and can be easily fitted onto a phlebotomist's tray, permitting the worker to fill one or more test tubes from a body fluid sample with one hand, while still protecting the worker from needle sticks. By providing multiple test tubes, the device accommodates the physician ordering a variety of tests that require a variety of test tubes. The device is simple to use, as well as economical to manufacture and to provide at a reasonable price to the consumer. Furthermore, the device is useful in a laboratory as well as on a phlebotomist's or similar tray.